Prosecutor General Yuri Lutsenko has said that spare parts for military equipment were smuggled from Russia, delivered to the Kuznia Na Rybalskomu shipyard (Kyiv), and successfully installed on armored personnel carriers.

Lutsenko was speaking at a news briefing, the Ukrainian News Agency reports.

The prosecutor general acknowledged that the Optymumspetsdetal company, which is linked to the son of the National Security and Defense Council’s First Deputy Secretary Ihor Hladkovskyi, delivered smuggled Russian spare parts for armored personnel carriers.

The spare parts were supplied to the Ukroboronprom state defense concern’s plants, including the Kuznia Na Rybalskomu shipyard, which is owned by President Petro Poroshenko.

"This equipment was used during repair of military equipment, and it is successfully proving itself in the combat zone in the Ukrainian-Russian war," said Lutsenko.

According to him, the prosecutor's office has been investigating violations related to supply of spare parts for armored personnel carriers to Ukrainian factories since 2016.

“The journalistic investigation appeared just as we entered the homestretch,” Lutsenko assures.

The prosecutor general promised to announce indictments in this case in the near future.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, President Petro Poroshenko suspended Hladkovskyi from the post of first deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council on February 26.

Poroshenko also called on law enforcement officials to verify the report by the Nashi Hroshi [Our Money] program’s journalists, who allege embezzlement by Ukroboronprom officials.

Hladkovskyi has denied the accusation and asked the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the military prosecutor's office to verify the media reports of embezzlement by Ukroboronprom officials.

Ukroboronprom and Hladkovskyi intend to file a lawsuit against the Nashi Hroshi program’s journalists in a bid to defend their honor and dignity.